The present invention relates to vehicle doors in general, and more particularly but not exclusively to a motor vehicle tailgate.
A known tailgate has a lifting handle near the bottom of its outside face.
The handle is not used to close the tailgate, and in addition it often projects and is of unattractive appearance.
French patent application No. FR-A-2 744 754 discloses a handle device for a rear opening panel of a motor vehicle, the device including a hinged plate. When the panel is closed, the plate is in a retracted position and is therefore not accessible.
There exists a need to improve the ergonomics and the appearance of vehicle doors.
The invention provides a vehicle door, in particular a tailgate, the door comprising an outside face and an end face opposite from a region where it is hinged to the vehicle.
The door of the invention is characterized by the fact that it includes a handle integrated in the end face and an opening in the outside face of the door to give access to said handle when the door is closed.
In other words, in the invention, the integrated handle is always accessible, including when the door is closed, unlike above-cited French patent application No. FR-A-2 744 754.
By means of the invention, it is possible to make a door that does not have a projecting handle, thereby providing improved ergonomics.
In a particular embodiment, the handle has two bearing surfaces, one bearing surface serving to open the door, and the other being used to close it.
Thus, it is possible to use the handle to close the door, thus avoiding any need to bear directly against regions of the outside face of the door around the handle.
This is advantageous when the vehicle is dirty.
In a particular embodiment, the above-mentioned bearing surfaces are constituted by integrally-formed walls of plastics material fitted to a box structure of the door.
Preferably, at least one of said walls bears against a bearing surface of the box structure, thus enabling forces to be taken up.
In a particular embodiment, the bearing surfaces face each other.
Preferably, the handle has an outside wall integrated in the end face of the door, a grip zone in the center of said outside wall, and a setback for receiving the last phalanges (or fingertips) of the user""s hand while opening or closing the door.
In a preferred embodiment, the door includes a lock having a control member, and the bearing surface that is used for opening is defined by a moving and/or deformable wall arranged to act on the control member of the lock while the user is exerting an upwardly-directed force on opening the door.
This embodiment makes it possible to integrate the lock in the door without any control member being visible on the outside face of the door, which gives an appearance that is particularly pleasing.
In addition, the opening control is situated very close to the lock, thus reducing the length of the rodding or cables used for actuating the lock, thereby improving tamperproofing.
The above-mentioned moving and/or deformable wall can be made in the form of a wall of rigid plastics material connected via a film hinge to the remainder of the handle or in the form of a flexible wall overmolded or fitted onto the remainder of the handle.
The surface of the handle against which the user bears can include, at least locally, a soft covering to improve user comfort.